> Ok, some of you might think that I've never been to concerts, but thats> not the case. I've been to many concerts, actually quite a few, but> I've never had seats that were exceptionally great. Don't get me wrong,> when U2 came to Minneapolis at the Metrodome for PopMart, there wasn't a> bad seat in the house, but I would have loved to be 25 feet further> down, cause that would have put me on the floor. It seams that ever> concert I have ever been to I have been compleatly shafted for floor> seats and just the generally exceptional seats. And its starting to get> annoying! I am just wondering, how do you get these great seats? I> talk to people all the time and I hear them say they were on the floor> and right up there, when Bono pulled up that girl out of the audience> and danced with her as he sung to her... why couldn't I have got closer> to see that. I'm a guy, it's not like I wanted Bono to pull me out of> the audience and dance with me and sing me a love song... Thats ok...> but I would like to get a little closer to the action... At U2 concerts> and any other concerts I'm fortinuate enuff to get close to... Can> someone help me with this? :)

I recall this topic coming up at the beginning of the PopMart tour, but I
guess it's relevant any time...Here are some ways of getting good-to-great
(reserved) seats to a U2 show, without having to resort to the scalpers:

--> Subscribe to Propaganda, and hope they continue to offer seats to fan
club members!

--> Hit the phones (or computer) early when tickets go on sale. The
biggest drawback over this is, you're dependent on the expertise (and
atittude!) of the clerk who pulls your tickets...

--> If the seat selection through TicketBastard et al is poor, consider
trying to get production seats. These are seats which are unsold until
the stage is built, at which point they're sent to the box office (or
ticket agencies like TM or BASS). As you can guess, they're almost always
located right next to the stage (although sometimes they're near the
sound/light board, VIP section, etc., and are further from the stage).
The quantity is limited, of course, and it's anyone's guess exactly when
they'll be put on sale. Keep checking with the local ticket agencies
right up until the day of the show, then check with the venue box office.

One note: if you're thinking of buying day-of-show tickets, be sure you
know what forms of payment are acceptable to the box office. In
Vancouver, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the BC Place box office
took credit cards. Other places I've been at, though, want cash _only_.
No plastic, and _never_ a check or traveler's check.

--> Day of show tickets: For as long as I can remember, U2 have had a
policy of releasing day-of-show tickets for their concerts. Some of these
are production seats, or unclaimed tickets for media, etc., but they also
hold back batches of tickets to undermine the scalpers outside the venue.
How _many_ get released depends on the size of the venue and the city,
e.g., on the '92 indoor tour, something like 1,000 day of show tickets
were reportedly released in Sacramento; the scalpers took a bath in that
town. The next show, at Oakland, only about a dozen day-of tickets got
sent to the box office--and there were something like 2,000 people waiting
at the box office for any possible releases!

Which brings up two other considerations, namely, the size of the _venue_,
and the size of the _city_. Witness the Sacramento/Oakland example cited
above; obviously, if U2 play stadiums of the same size in the New York
City market, and in Columbus, Ohio, it will be easier to get better seats
in Columbus than at, say, Giants Stadium.